UQ academic under fire from Education Minister

AN academic who says regional unis will suffer under education reforms has copped a blast from Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne.

Professor Roger Scott said on Thursday the University of Queensland would be the state's only winner under My Pyne's mooted changes.

Prof Scott said the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill would increase the University of Queensland's "dominance at the cost of institutes like CQUniversity and the University of Southern Queensland.

"Inequalities in access already exist," Prof Scott said.

"They will become considerably worse, particularly for regional Queenslanders."

But Mr Pyne said, through a spokesman the claim made in a The TJ Ryan Foundation's research paper, was misleading.

"The TJ Ryan Foundation, a left wing think tank established by the Labor Party and the Union Movement, is deliberately misrepresenting the Government's reforms," he said.

"It is simply not possible to maintain the standards that students expect or the international reputation that Australia's university system enjoys without full fee deregulation."